Futaba 12Z & 14mz Li-ion Battery

[Darklighter]

I’m unaware if this has been shared on the Flying Giants Forum before but here goes.

I recently found out from a buddy I fly with who has done some research on the 12z & 14mz battery to find out if there is a cheaper replacement than the one Futaba sells. The battery that is being used is a camcorder battery. It is a NP-F550. If you do a search for this on eBay you will find batteries as cheap as $7.00. I have been using a 2300mAh Li-ion that cost me $7.00 for the past 3 months with no issues. Please note that as the mAh increase so does the size of the battery and it may not fit in the TX. The largest I have used is the 2300Mah. Here is a link to the actual battery I have been using: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...S%252BI%252BSS

[statbeast]

I am not sure I would want to go cheap on the tx battery. If you have a $1,400 or $2,000 tx I am not sure it makes sense to try to save a few bucks on a cheap battery. That is just my opinion.

On a side note, as a 12z owner I love that lion battery. It charges so fast and lasts all day. It is a huge benefit to me compared to older tx batteries.

[Darklighter]

	Quote:
	am not sure I would want to go cheap on the tx battery. If you have a $1,400 or $2,000 tx I am not sure it makes sense to try to save a few bucks on a cheap battery. That is just my opinion. On a side note, as a 12z owner I love that lion battery. It charges so fast and lasts all day. It is a huge benefit to me compared to older tx batteries.

I understand your concern. I am flying a 2.6m Comp Arf with my 12z. But the real question is how do we know that the Li-Ion Futaba sells is of any better quality? Because it says Futaba on the battery. Futaba will not tell us the manufacture of the cells they use. You can also buy a quality SONY Li-Ion if you search the internet for about $20. This is still cheaper than the Futaba battery and my guess would be it is of the same quality or maybe even better.

[excelpoint]

I've been using the sony battery for quite a while with no issues at all which has a part number of
NP-F570. As statbeast said i would tend to keep with the better quality sony packs. It dosnt take long for the cheaper packs to chuck a cell then its all goes bad.

[Darklighter]

The only reason I wrote the original post was to let people know that there is an alternative to the expensive $80 Li-ion battery Futaba sells. I was unaware that these were camcorder batteries. I now know that even Duracell makes a Li-ion for about $50 which is a cheaper alternative.

[exeter_acres]

I use a Fromeco battery in my 14mz.......
with their carrier... works GREAT!!

[drosenquist]

I have been using a 2800 mAh Sony replacement Li-Ion battery from:

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/SuperMart168__W0QQ_armrsZ1.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=270400680056

It is a direct replacement Li-Ion battery. The Futaba 12Z charger works perfectly with it. It was about $16.00.
It adds almost 30% to the flying time. It's been more than 9 months without an issue!

I also found this charger that allows you to charge it from your car or any 110/240 volt source:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-for-Sony....m14.l1262&_tr

Both companies are in the U.S. Another plus if there's ever an issue! However I have had none!